Citation Styles by Discipline: Business

Business fields tend to use several major citation styles, as well as journal-specific styles. APA, Harvard, and Chicago are the most frequently used styles beyond journal- or publisher-dictated styles.

General APA in-text citations follow this pattern:

(Author, Year of publication).

To cite an online journal article in a reference entry in APA 7th edition include the following elements:

1. Author(s) of the article: Give the last name and initials (e. g. Watson, J. D.) of up to 20 authors with the last name preceded by an ampersand (&). For 21 or more authors include the first 19 names followed by an ellipsis (…) and add the last author's name.
2. Year of publication: Give the year in brackets followed by a full stop.
3. Title of the research article: Only the first letter of the first word and proper nouns are capitalized.
4. Title of periodical: Give the full, non-abbreviated title of the periodical in title case. It should also be italicized.
5. Volume number: The volume number is also italicized.
6. Issue number: For journals that are paginated by issue give the issue number in brackets.
7. Page numbers: Give the full page range.
8. DOI or URL: Include the digital object identifier (DOI) as a hyperlink starting with 'https://doi.org/'. If no DOI can be found, include the URL that directly links to the cited work.

For citations, the Chicago style offers authors the choice between two formats:

• The Notes and Bibliography system: Preferred by many working in the humanities (literature, history, the arts, etc.). Sources are cited in numbered footnotes or endnotes in the text and listed in a separate bibliography.
• The Author-Date system: Often used in the sciences and social sciences. Sources are briefly cited in the text (usually in parentheses, author's last name and year of publication), and matched up with an entry in a reference list with full bibliographic information.

Aside from the use of numbered footnotes vs. parenthetical citations in-text, the two systems share a similar style.

The Harvard referencing style uses the author-date system for in-text citations, which means the author's surname and the year of publication in round brackets are placed within the text. If there is no discernible author, the title and date are used.

The reference list outlines all the sources directly cited in your work. It should be ordered alphabetically by the surname of the first author of each work. References with no author are ordered alphabetically by the first significant word of the title. Only the initials of the authors' given name are used, with no full stop and space between the initials.

The general referencing order for a journal article in Harvard is:

1. Author (surname followed by initials)
2. Year of publication (in round brackets)
3. Title of article (in single quotation marks)
4. Title of journal (in italics - capitalise first letter of each word in title, except for linking words)
5. Issue information (volume (unbracketed), and, where applicable, part number, month or season)
6. Page reference (if available)
7. If accessed online: DOI or Available at: URL (Accessed: date)

APA Citation Guides 
This website is organized by source type and provides details about, and examples of, correct APA citations.

Chicago Style Guides 
This resource provides comprehensive guidance on how to cite a variety of sources in Chicago style.

Harvard Citation Guides 
This site provides guidance and examples for citing numerous source types in Harvard style.

What Citation Style to Use for Business 
This article discusses the primary styles used in business research.